


pots and pans

by x_Space_Mermaid_x



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, HA bet you didn't expect that tag, Peter Parker is Pepper Potts' Biological Son, Slow To Update, at least the first few chapters are, pepper centric ish, the mcu timeline is a mess so watch me alter it to fit my needs, this probably needs a bunch more tags but im bad a planning so i'll add them later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-09-26 16:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Space_Mermaid_x/pseuds/x_Space_Mermaid_x
Summary: Mommy works a lot, she's wonderful and brilliant. Sometimes she brings me along, and I get to play with Mr Happy or I work on puzzles whilst she does important things. Mr Stark is very nice for being Mommy's boss, sometimes he'll give me cute little robots and sometimes he helps me with my homework. He's very nice, and sometimes I see him looking at Mommy like she's the prettiest woman in the world. Which is true! Mr Rhodey says that they should just get over themselves and have a night out together. Whatever that means.Pepper Potts has always been a very hardworking, efficient and dedicated woman. Even motherhood won't slow her down, and little Peter is going to be one of the greatest things she's ever created.





	pots and pans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> broke: tony stark is peter's biological dad  
> woke: pepper potts is peter's biological mom
> 
> basically i've been thinking about this idea since i first started reading mcu fics where peter is biologically related to tony, and idk i just thought it'd be a much more interesting idea if peter is related to pepper instead. also she'd honestly be a super mom, and now i have the excuse to give peter freckles bc peppER HAS CUTE FRECKLES. anyways enjoy this fic that i have no idea how long it realistically will be but will probably cover the events of pre-iron man to homecoming, skipping a few obvious parts that don't involve pepper or peter (like thor: dark world, captain america: first avenger, etc). i prolly won't go into the events of infinity war mostly because i'm not really a fan of it but i might change my mind if/when i see end game. besides that's like a long way off, there is a lot of shit in the mcu that happens.
> 
> also im gonna like apologise in advance, i haven't really ever successfully written romance, never mind romance between two full grown adults and not hopeless teens, so we'll uh, we'll get through this together. if at any point the romance is awkward, then just chalk it up to my ineptitude at writing it BUT please do leave me constructive criticism because i am willing to work on my shit to improve. im also p proud of the title of this fic lmao like pots as in pepper bc pepper potts and pans as in peter bc of peter pan. it’s a much better title than its previous one that was just ‘peter potts’ which is boring.
> 
> other than a brief warning that some things in the first chapter doesn't make sense time-wise and may not be an accurate portrayal of pregnancy but i don't really care enough to fix it. hmmm i think that's everything?? alrighty!! on w the fic!!

Working as Tony Stark’s personal assistant was more than a full time job. Pepper would probably liken it to a lifestyle considering how little free time she got, and how much attention it needed. If she took her eye off Tony for even a few hours he’d have made a horrible decision without her there to at least _attempt_ to curb acting on his whims.

 

So having a stable love life was something that was...very nearly impossible.

 

It required a lot of patience and hard work, giving up valuable free time to spend with her boyfriend when all she wanted to do was curl up and watch old movies all day to recharge herself enough to deal with work as efficiently as she could.

 

Richard was a wonderful man, a smart man too, his research into genetic mutation was fascinating even to herself who barely had any understanding of biology past her high school qualifications. Richard always explained it in a way that she could understand.

 

It was four years into the relationship when they mutually decided to break up. They had been drifting apart for over a year with weekends off not aligning and patience wearing thin. They decided to keep in touch, because although they weren’t as close as before they still enjoyed each other’s company so distant friends would probably work.

 

Pepper begun to relish in spending her days off snuggled up on the couch watching films from the 1950s and enjoying the glamour of the silver screen icons. As the weeks went on she found herself needing those rare days of relaxation. Working for Tony nearly 24/7 was starting to stress and exhaust her to absolutely no end, _especially_ whenever he pulled a stunt that required damage control.

 

Pepper was furiously efficient, hardworking and above all else, organised. Most of her life was scheduled, even down to the time she would pause for a coffee break or bathroom break. So she immediately realised that her period was late.

 

It wasn’t anything particularly new. She knew that when her stress levels were high enough that would affect it, and with the pervasive exhaustion that she felt she was inclined to think it was that. She hadn’t been sexually active since the night before she broke things off with Richard, but all the same, she bought a pregnancy test on her way home and decided that it didn’t hurt to double check.

 

She put it off for a while. Not for any reason other than the fact that she was exhausted and really just wanted to curl up on her expensive sofa (bought thanks to her generous paycheck) and watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s with a tub of chocolate fudge ice cream and a jar of peanut butter.

 

Then one morning, she had an hour to get ready and head over to Tony’s house and make sure the latest woman - or women if he had been particularly charismatic the night before - were escorted home safely. She looked at the home pregnancy kit and decided that it would be best to get it over with. She knew it would just come back as negative anyway, so might as well get it out of the way—

 

It was positive.

 

She was sure that she must have stared at the test uncomprehendingly for about five minutes, before snapping out of it. Calmly she put the test on the side and continued getting ready for the day, she wasn’t sure she had the mental capacity to deal with the situation and work at optimal efficiency for Tony, so it would have to wait at the very least thirteen hours until she got home again.

 

Pepper was no stranger to putting things out of her mind. If she was trying not to focus on something, she could do it with much success, barely even brushing the topic. She went to Tony’s house, sent the woman of the night on her way, shuffled him into a board meeting, completed a small mountain of paperwork, organised details about the next Stark Industries event, and reminded Tony of his schedule five times. A little quieter than the usual day, she hadn’t had to deal with any major disasters and she managed to get home for 10pm.

 

She bought a second pregnancy test on her way home and tested it again. Just to make sure. Maybe it had been a false positive and she didn’t have to think about the possibility again.

 

It wasn’t.

 

Somewhere in her mind, the organised and put together version of herself was demanding her to make a choice, to figure out what she wanted and what her plan was going to be moving forward. But the vulnerable and unsure version of herself was taking center stage as she flubbed her words and could hardly manage to put together a straight sentence.

 

She was vaguely aware of the process that others would go through after they found out. They’d tell their partner the news, which didn’t apply to her because she’d broken up with Richard nine weeks ago and he’d started dating another woman already.

 

Then they’d tell their parents. Well, Pepper’s dad had died when she was in college, and her relationship with her mother had always been strained, now limited to rare phone calls during christmas and new years. She didn’t fancy submitting herself to her mother’s disapproval over the subject, so that was a conversation best avoided for as long as possible.

 

Next would be informing her friends. She wasn’t a complete shut in workaholic, Pepper did have friends but they were mostly all colleagues that she rarely saw outside of work. If there was anyone close to being her friend it was Happy, but that was more based on having to deal with Tony together than any common interests. She didn’t feel like they were quite close enough for her to go straight to him after finding out.

 

Colonel Rhodes was a nice guy, she’d seen him outside of work a few times. Mostly it was to help pick out gifts for his girlfriend of the time, or laughing about stories he’d tell her about his and Tony’s college days that would have her in stitches. Though they didn’t often speak, and he was more her boss’s friend than hers, she considered him something of one. She’d probably tell him soon after she made a decision.

 

And finally people would tell their employer, inform them that they’d be taking maternity leave at some point. That meant telling Tony.

 

She cared about him, and she was very sure that he probably wouldn’t be able to last very long on his own without her. No other assistant had been able to deal with him as well as she had - it had given her amazing job security - so it would probably be a dreadful few months for him if she did take maternity leave for however long it would take.

 

Pepper still wasn’t quite sure what her feelings for him were like. She knew she cared for him more than the level of a trusted boss, she was close enough to consider him a friend but it was...different to a normal friendship. Something deeper. She would most definitely be telling him, when she finally got round to deciding what she would do.

 

For a week, she didn’t tell anyone. She recognised the morning sickness now, she realised that the added exhaustion wasn’t just from stress, she recognised the cramps and almost overpowering cravings. She could deal with them now that she knew the sources.

 

Anti-nausea medicine was taken as much as she dared, small naps were taken on her lunch break after eating, she never went anywhere without a heat pad stuck on the cramping area and thanks to her iron will, she didn’t cave to her cravings nearly as much as she would have.

 

She researched. As much as she could without scaring herself by diving too deep too soon, only enough for her to make a decision. Because she could very well make a short trip down to the abortion clinic and that would be the end of that. She wouldn’t have to deal with how little energy she had, nor all the other terrible effects that came with pregnancy.

 

But she could imagine it. Holding a small baby, maybe with her red hair and Richard’s brown eyes. They’d be beautiful, she was sure.

 

She was terrified. The idea of seeing this through and raising a child all on her own. She barely had time for a healthy relationship, she most definitely wouldn’t have time for a child. She’d never planned for kids, deciding she’d probably be the kind of woman who decided at age 45 that she’d adopt or she’d be with a partner who already had children.

 

But she was Pepper Virginia Potts, and she was anything but a quitter. If she could look after Tony and prevent serious PR disasters, she could raise a child on her own on top of it. She was keeping this baby, and she was going to be the best mother she could damn well be.

 

She made a doctor’s appointment, most of it was general health questions, she did get some decent information on what to expect. They discussed her options, she had her blood taken for testing, and she also learned that her pregnancy was actually considered from the time of her last period making her eleven weeks pregnant. They conducted an ultrasound and the moment she looked at her tiny child, she knew she was making the right choice.

 

She walked away with a copy of the ultrasound, steadily feeling more prepared and ready.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Pepper walked into Stark Industries with a purpose the next day. She’d made up her mind about who she’d first tell, naturally it would be Tony. Though she knew him to be a grade A asshole some of the time, she could only hope that he would at least respect her choice. If she was even being optimistic he would be happy for her and try to ease up on being difficult to work with for a while.

 

“Good morning Pepper, for once I actually beat you into the building.” Tony teased as he sat staring at a stack of paperwork that he rarely completed. Despite what the media would believe, as CEO Tony Stark actually _did_ complete paperwork every so often.

 

“There’s always a first for everything.” She swiftly replied back, placing a small stack of her own completed paperwork she had taken home with her the other night down on the desk. “Let’s see if you can do it two days in a row and I truly will be impressed.”

 

Tony smiled slightly before looking at the screen in front of him and frowning slightly. Pepper resisted the urge to ask what was wrong, usually she’d just have to wait just a little longer before whatever was bugging him got too much for him to not comment on. If she asked usually he’d wave it off, and she’d have to deal with his ‘concealed’ irritation whilst pretending she didn’t know about it.

 

“So I noticed you had a doctor’s appointment out of the blue - everything alright?”

 

Pepper fought not to roll her eyes or sigh. For normal people, having someone bring up something about an appointment that they didn’t mention to anyone would usually be weird. It means people overstepping their boundaries, but being close to Tony as she was, she knew what he was doing.

 

He overstepped because he was weird with affection and didn’t quite know how to show it, so he’d observe and pretend that he didn’t care. He intruded on knowledge that she didn’t share so that he could intercept anything he thought would harm her. It was sweet in it’s own way but incredibly annoying at the best of times.

 

If it wasn’t the perfect segue into the topic she had no idea how she would have brought up, she would have probably been mad at his snooping.

 

“Yes, I believe that it is. I actually made that appointment because it turns out I’m pregnant.”

 

She said it with a smile as she watched his reaction out the corner of her eye. He was frozen for a second before smiling up at her. “Congratulations...right? That’s, good, yeah?”

 

Pepper laughed. “Yes, it is. I’ll admit it wasn’t something I was expecting, but I think I’ll be able to handle it.”

 

Now Tony really did smile at her. “I think you’ll be wonderful at it. After all, you keep me in check. Any baby would be a piece of cake after that.”

 

Pepper couldn’t help the smile that filled her expression. “Thank you, Tony. I’ll still be working with you for as long as I’m able, but we might have to try and break in a new assistant for the short time that I’m gone.”

 

“Hey, don’t worry about me, I can look after myself just fine.”

 

“Do we need to go over your social security number again?”

 

“There’s a five in there, right?”

 

They worked in silence for a while, Pepper sitting on the sofa in the office whilst she went over some of Tony’s already completed paperwork to double check everything.

 

“So, when’s the kid due? The father’s that guy you broke up with, right? How’s that going to work out?”

 

Pepper looked up, thinking about her options concerning Richard. “I’m eleven weeks so should be due mid to late August is what they say. And yes, Richard. I haven’t quite gotten round to telling him, but I’m not entirely sure he’d be interested. Besides, I don’t think I want to get back with him just because of the baby. And he has a new girlfriend, so he might not want to jeopardise that relationship with a child.”

 

Tony nodded thoughtfully before stopping and looking at Pepper with an intense expression. “Wait— he doesn’t know? Am...am I the first one you’ve told?”

 

“Besides my doctor and the receptionist I was making an appointment with - yeah.” She smiled at him.

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, because you’re…” Pepper coughed, unsure of how to explain. “Because you’re you.” It wasn’t quite the explanation she wanted to give, and it would probably drive Tony mad trying to figure it out but she’d rather give that than fumble around for a response and embarrass herself.

 

They spent the rest of the morning in silence, only speaking about business until lunch time arrived. She could almost convince herself that it was a normal boring work morning if it weren’t for the fact she couldn’t stop thinking of Tony’s words of encouragement.

 

That and she caught him looking at baby gifts when she stood to pass him a pile of reviewed paperwork.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It seemed like it only took a couple of days for nearly all of her co-workers to hear the news after that. Most everyone she spoke to congratulated her and seemed very excited for her, a few of her more friendly and enthusiastic co-workers asked if she had an ultrasound yet. She happily showed them, excited to share.

 

Happy gruffly congratulated her, which was the best she would get. It would have bothered her somewhat but she was starting to recognise the signs of when he was _actually_ happy, she was pretty sure this was one of them. He asked what her plans were for names, and she admitted she hadn’t quite thought that far yet, deciding she’d think about it more when she knew the gender.

 

At some point, Rhodey specifically sought her out to congratulate her. He took her out for coffee during one of her breaks, it was fun. He seemed concerned and worried for her doing it all on her own, it was sweet and touching but she was Pepper Potts and she knew she could handle this. She told him that and he laughed, saying she was right but he offered his help anyway saying that if she needed absolutely anything he would be happy to help.

 

She then made plans for her to meet with Richard at the weekend, it was a bit of a struggle considering he had moved to New York after their split, but thankfully he had a business trip to the west coast that Friday. He’d very briefly misunderstood and thought that she was going to propose they get back together during the meeting, but she made it clear she had absolutely no intention of that. She just needed to talk to him, and it would be better if that conversation didn’t take place on the phone.

 

When Saturday came, she had to pause in her morning routine when she noticed that she had a small almost unnoticeable bump. She got ready with a smile, and headed off to meet Richard for lunch.

 

He took the news well considering Pepper expected him to assert his opinion about what she should do. Instead he asked her what she wanted. She answered truthfully that she wanted this baby, she wanted to have primary custody but wouldn’t be opposed to sharing them with him. She wouldn’t need any child support considering she knew her paycheck was considerably higher than his, and  she made it clear that any involvement was completely optional.

 

Richard had been contemplative after she said that. She’d known him long enough to recognise his thinking face, and waited for him to get his thoughts in order. But she did take the moment to show him the ultrasound after he asked to see it.

 

He looked at the picture for a long moment. “I think...I want to be involved in their life. It’d probably be too stressful for them if it was anything more than seeing them every few months though.”

 

Pepper agreed, she couldn’t imagine how stressful it would be for the kid if they were constantly sent back and forth across America every week or so. She was already planning on limiting how many times they’d have to travel with her whenever she needed to follow Tony around. Unfortunately, she’d probably have to employ the help of a nanny sometimes, no matter how much she didn’t want to.

 

They parted, with Pepper agreeing to keep Richard in the loop and deciding to make any decisions regarding the kid closer to the birth. A week later, Pepper sat herself down and prepared for an emotionally draining phone call with her mother.

 

Unfortunately, it was just as draining and tense as she imagined it would be. The subtle digs of finding a husband were brought out more often, their claws feeling more like daggers than usual under her mother’s disapproval. Pepper had taken to gently holding a hand over her bump as a source of comfort. She’d endure this phone call for her child. So long as she could, she’d never let her mother have direct contact with them. Never let her be alone with them either, so she didn’t know exactly what she’d say to them.

 

Afterwards she’d made herself a sandwich of ham and marshmallow fluff to eat whilst she watched elegant classic films to take her mind off the conversation. She was pulled from the film by her phone going off unexpectedly. Pepper told herself she had friends, she just never interacted with them outside of work hours, which is why she was confused to see Rhodey’s caller ID flash.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Pepper! Hey, just wanted to check up on you and ask how you’re doing?”

 

She couldn’t help but feel gratitude flow through her. God, that was incredibly sweet of him. “I’m okay considering I just had an incredibly draining conversation with my mother about my kid. Also cravings are weird.”

 

Rhodey laughed. “I remember when my cousin was pregnant with her daughter, she had the weirdest cravings. Including the time she told me that she wanted to eat just plain chalk, or when we were at the beach she told me she had the urge to scoop up a handful of sand and eat it.”

 

Pepper couldn’t help but laugh, thankful she hadn’t been hit with any craving...too weird. At least not yet.

 

“So emotionally draining conversation, how you dealing with that?”

 

“Trying to forget about it by eating craving food and watching classic Hollywood films. Did you know that ham and marshmallow fluff sandwiches are delicious?”

 

“I did not, in fact.” Rhodey laughed. “Hm, want any company? I could swing by and we can watch one of your favourites if you like.”

 

Pepper thought for a second. Usually she wasn’t a fan of people seeing her looking anything less than immaculate, and she had been in her comfortable no makeup no bra attire since she got in and didn’t really want to change. On the other hand, the offer of companionship and a relaxed hang out session sounded great.

 

“Sure, that sounds good. You’ve got my address right?”

 

“Yep, just a few houses down from Tony’s.”

 

“Yeah, close by in case he needs to me to stop him from doing something stupid.”

 

They wrapped the call up pretty soon after that, and a short time later Rhodey was at her door. They had a fun time together, Pepper convinced Rhodey to try one of her sandwiches and laughed when he pulled a face at the contrasting flavors. They mostly talked, with one of the films playing in the background, they talked about the latest ridiculous thing that Tony had each other doing. Pepper explaining Tony’s impulse buy of a food restaurant, and Rhodey complaining about how difficult he was being before one of his weapons presentations.

 

It was a nice night. An unexpected one, but just the balm Pepper needed after a stressful day.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next few months passed in a blur.

 

Apart from the occasional doctor’s appointments to check on how the baby was developing and the slight change in self care, it was business as usual. She trailed behind Tony during business events, reining him in when necessary, and stopping any inadvisable business decisions.

 

Her bump became a lot more noticeable, and continued to grow as time went on. Considering the fact that the press liked to trail Tony like hawks waiting for him to fuck something up, she was somewhat surprised that there wasn’t anything published that insinuated that her child was Tony’s. She could only imagine that was Tony’s doing, the press usually liked to report anything that would be a scandal, and if reported it had the potential to be a complete disaster.

 

She found herself constantly checked up on by coworkers and friends alike. Happy and Rhodey in particular. Happy sharing his snacks with her when she was feeling particularly snacky or low in energy, and Rhodey coming over at least once a week to have dinner with her and watch a movie.

 

Tony had also eased up significantly in how difficult he was to assist. Although he didn’t really stop how frequently he got on her nerves, the threat of major scandals had decreased a whole lot more than she’d expected. He’d also taken to doing a lot more paperwork on his own which lightened her load by a lot, which meant earlier nights.

 

Pepper had also started to train someone to take over her position when she went on maternity leave, a woman called Penny Miller that Pepper had known since the beginning days working for the company before Tony had swiped her up and assigned her as his assistant. Penny didn’t quite have as much backbone as Pepper did, but she was almost as ruthlessly efficient. Pepper reckoned she’d manage for up to four or five months before she burnt out and quit. So Pepper decided she had to be back before then.

 

The next time she had an ultrasound, she found out that she was going to have a son. Pepper hadn’t had a preference either way, but the news still made her happy. For the next week she constantly thought up possible names, trying to find which would work best with Potts. Or perhaps she should speak with Richard about whether he wanted their son to have his last name. It was something to think about, so she tried to find names that fit with both.

 

When he had time, she did some exercises her doctor recommended. She’d taken to yoga pretty well, remembering when she’d taken it up in college with her roommate. She also went to some classes if she could fit them into her schedule, just to help prepare herself even if it unnerved her slightly to be the only woman in there alone.

 

Her son was a kicker though, the first time she felt it it was almost like a flutter in her stomach. But as he grew bigger and stronger those little kicks increased in power, taking her off guard sometimes.

 

Before she knew it, she was seven months pregnant with only two months to go. Although she’d been slowly stocking up on the things she’d need as a mother, she hadn’t actually gotten round to converting one of her spare rooms into a nursery. She mentioned this to Rhodey one time when he came round and he offered to help her out one weekend if she bought everything.

 

So she did, she spent one evening buying all the furniture needed. She was pretty sure that she’d gotten more than strictly necessary but worst comes to worse and she had no use for some of the stuff she could always donate them. Babies were expensive and there had to be a mother out there that could use it more than her.

 

The next weekend, she was surprised to see Rhodey and Happy there. Between the three of them, they set up the bedroom next to Pepper’s. They laughed and struggled putting together the crib, the flat pack instructions being hard to read. They put on some music and laughed together, ultimately having a good time. They painted the walls a light yellow, because Pepper always thought it was a nice cheerful colour.

 

Pepper had to excuse herself at sometime during the evening for a quick power nap, she was exhausted even though Rhodey and Happy hadn’t let her do anything more than getting drinks and passing them things. By the time that she woke up an hour later, they’d finished and she walked into a completed nursery feeling ready to use it.

 

They celebrated with takeout, and Tony even came around when the food arrived. She laughed when Rhodey called him out for arriving only when the work was done, overall she couldn’t help but think of them all as a family. She was so grateful for her friends and all the support that they were giving her.

 

When she was eight months, she took her maternity leave. She’d actually wanted to keep going for as long as she needed, but considering Happy, Rhodey, Tony and literally all of her co-workers told her that she should be resting at home, she relented. And yeah, she definitely liked being out of the stressful work environment and sleeping in until eleven, sometimes twelve, o’clock.

 

She kept in regular contact with Penny in case the woman needed any advice or help. Bless her, she spoke to her at least three times a day. It was just like Tony to get reckless again the second he was given more leeway, but Pepper had faith in the woman.

 

She’d met with Richard only a few times during her pregnancy, most of their meetings were minor updates to how their son was doing. They had planned very little, but when asked Richard expressed that he didn’t mind whether or not he shared the surname. It would make it a lot easier for Pepper if their son shared her surname at the very least.

 

He did have one request though, and Pepper indulged him. Richard hadn’t cared to interfere with picking the baby’s first name but he did ask if they could make his middle name Benjamin, after Richard’s brother. Pepper hadn’t planned on giving him a middle name, but she agreed to. After all, she’d met Ben Parker before and he was always very kind to her. No doubt he’d be kind to her son as well after he was born.

 

Though Richard still lived in New York, they decided that after their son was born, Pepper would let him know and he’d travel down to meet him. He’d also be bringing his girlfriend Mary down, where Pepper would meet the woman. From what Richard had told her, it sounded like the two worked much better as a couple than Pepper and Richard ever had. Pepper was happy for them.

 

Although Pepper loved having free time, she couldn’t help but feel a bit...bored waiting around for her son to make an appearance. She was used to _doing_ things. To suddenly stop, was a bizarre experience. She’d organised her movie collection three times, organised her computer files twice and did a deep cleanse of the hard drive, read through every book in her house that she’d been meaning to get to, watched every single movie to come out of Hollywood in the 50s and read through so many parenting books.

 

The visits from her friends throughout the week kept her sane. Rhodey came over a lot more often than he did before, sometimes with Happy tagging along since she didn’t see him in work anymore. Tony came over once to complain about Penny working for him instead of Pepper, which was amusing to listen to.

 

By the time that her water broke at three in the morning on the 19th of August, she could only think ‘oh thank _god_ _’_ despite the immense pain. She called her midwife, then the hospital she’d planned to use, thankfully she only had to wait around for an ambulance for ten minutes. When she was on her way out to the ambulance she ran into Tony. Although they planned to meet in the hospital, taking the opportunity he came in the ambulance with her.

 

Time passed in a rush after she got into the ambulance. It seemed like one moment, the paramedic was calming her and holding her hand and the next she was in her hospital room with Sarah, her midwife, holding her hand and encouraging her.

 

Four hours later, she heard a baby’s cry pierce through the veil of pain that surrounded her. She felt her body go limp, when Sarah told her she did a good job. There was a flurry of activity around her and all she wanted to do was pass out, but the soft cries kept her aware. She looked up just in time to see Sarah approaching with a small bundle in her arms.

 

Reflexively, Pepper held her arms out to take the bundle from her, and instantly she found herself captivated by the baby - her _son_. This beautiful, small being that was oh so precious was her son. Even though she’d spent a whole seven months actively preparing for his arrival, it didn’t seem quite real.

 

He squirmed slightly, but his cries had softened. When she gently held a shaky hand out to rub against his soft cheek, he moved his small fist to wrap around her finger. She hadn’t even noticed her tears until they blurred her vision, she let out a small laugh of joy.

 

“Hi there, sweetheart.” She murmured, using her thumb to gently rub against his tiny hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’ve been waiting for a while.”

 

The world was so small to her. Nothing apart from her and her son existed. She didn’t even really register the pain that was no doubt ripping through her lower body, but whether that was due to painkillers or not she wasn’t sure. She was too caught up in the moment. Too much in disbelief that this beautiful boy was hers.

 

“I’m Pepper, your mom. And your name is...Peter. Peter Potts. Welcome to the world little one.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also writing the first few sections i researched so much about pregnancy i'm about 90% sure that the fbi agent that watches my browsing thinks i'm pregnant. so there's that. also learned a bunch of facts, about the whole process that i didn't know before. btw if the birthing process is inaccurate then shrugs because i'm too squeamish to look it up and i don't really want to edit it. 
> 
> oh yeah and to those who are wondering why tony isn't more involved, at this point in their relationship i picture pepper and tony as close and have the _potential_ to have very small feelings for each other but not quite there yet. plus tony is still in his playboy phase and children probably horrify him, so atm he's in a struggle of "pepper is friend but pepper is baby so avoid". hence he's awkwardly trying to be supportive but as far away from her as he can. i'm like 90% convinced that if he was more involved it'd be out of character, but don't worry he won't be like this all the time. i just have very strong opinions abt his character development. 
> 
> this probably isn't the best i could have done but i've been working on this off and on since just before christmas and i got tired of rereading it and didn't feel like redoing it so uh here we are! i'm probably gonna keep writing the fic like it's on fast forwards at least for the first few years of peter's life. i eventually aim to focus on peter's pov but not yet. i have a bunch of vagueish ideas how this is gonna play out but im unsure mostly. probably have to rewatch the first iron man films a bunch of times to get some better ideas. who knows. anyways don't expect rapid updates bc i am not abt that life. hope you enjoy anyways and lemme know what you think!!!


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